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Trumbo chases Angels' home run milestone

Trumbo chases Angels' home run milestone

8/19/13: Mark Trumbo smashes a solo homer to center field off Chris Perez to cut the Indians' lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the ninth

By Alden Gonzalez and William Boor
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MLB.com |

ANAHEIM -- The Angels entered Tuesday with 33 games left in their schedule, and Mark Trumbo was already one home run away from reaching 30 again.

No. 29 came in the ninth inning of a game the Angels were on their way to losing on Monday night, a laser to straightaway center field that gave the slugging first baseman a home run in three consecutive games. Trumbo finished that night ranked fourth in the American League in homers. With his next one, he'll be the first Angels player to slug 30 in back-to-back seasons since Vladimir Guerrero from 2004-06, while joining Tim Salmon and Troy Glaus as the only players to do it before turning 28.

But the current state of these Angels -- 14 games below .500, 16 1/2 games out of first place -- makes it difficult to enjoy milestones like that.

"It's tough," the 27-year-old Trumbo said. "But you try to take away as many positives as you can - personally, especially, because the down times do [stink], big time."

Trumbo -- batting .360 over his last six games to raise his batting average to .242 -- easily leads a star-studded Angels team in homers and has consistently produced impressive power numbers since his rookie season, which will only help him in his first year of arbitration this winter.

Since the start of the 2011 season, Trumbo is tied for fourth in the Majors in homers (90), tied for 10th in RBIs (265) and ranks 39th in slugging percentage (.481).

This year, he's on pace for 37 homers.

And if someday he reaches 40, it probably wouldn't surprise anyone.

"That'd be awesome," Trumbo said. "That's a lot, especially the way the trends are going. That's a huge number, I think. I don't know if this ballpark is as conducive to that as others, but if I groove my swing the right way, hopefully it translates here and on the road."

Alden Gonzalez is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Gonzo and "The Show", and follow him on Twitter @Alden_Gonzalez. William Boor is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.